Gus Kenworthy adopts puppy from Korean dog meat farm (Photo)

Sam Cooper
·College football writer
·3 min read
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American skier Gus Kenworthy made a name for himself during the 2014 Sochi Games, and it wasn’t for just his silver medal in slopestyle.

Kenworthy extended his stay in Sochi in order to go through the process of adopting several stray puppies before returning home to the U.S. With the PyeongChang Olympics coming to a close, Kenworthy announced his plan to adopt another dog — this time from a South Korean dog meat farm.

Kenworthy visited a dog farm with his boyfriend Saturday morning. According to the Associated Press, more than two million dogs are killed for their meat in Korea each year. It is a legal practice in South Korea and many parts of Asia. It has caught the attention of many North American visitors.

As Yahoo Sports’ Eric Adelson detailed, there is a movement to save hundreds of dogs from the dog farms:

With the Winter Games coming to a close, there’s a movement afoot here to rescue some canines that otherwise might be slaughtered for meat. An international organization devoted to protecting animals is looking to save hundreds of dogs by sending them to North America with flight volunteers.

The goal is to match each dog with a North America-bound traveler who is leaving after the Games. Then an adoption agency will meet the traveler in the U.S. or Canada and find the dog better care and a safe home.

Kenworthy said the treatment of the dogs is “completely inhumane.”

“There is an argument to be made that eating dogs is a part of Korean culture. And, while I don’t personally agree with it, I do agree that it’s not my place to impose western ideals on the people here,” Kenworthy wrote. “The way these animals are being treated, however, is completely inhumane and culture should never be a scapegoat for cruelty.”

In this Friday, Feb. 23, 2018, photo, American freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy, left, and his boyfriend Matthew Wilkas visit a dog meat farm in Siheung, South Korea. Kenworthy saved five stray dogs during the Sochi Olympics four years ago and is considering adopting one of the many puppies he met Friday after finishing competition the Pyeongchang Games. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Kenworthy said the dog farm he visited (he posted several photos of the visit on his Instagram account) is being “permanently shut down” with the dogs being brought to the U.S. and Canada for adoption. The photo above shows Kenworthy and his boyfriend Matt Wilkas with the dog they adopted. They named her Beemo.

“She’ll be coming to the U.S. to live with me as soon as she’s through with her vaccinations in a short couple of weeks,” Kenworthy wrote. “I cannot wait to give her the best life possible!”

On the slopes, Kenworthy could not replicate his medal-winning performance from Sochi. He finished 12th in the slopestyle final after competing with a hip injury and a broken thumb.

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Sam Cooper is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!